


Upset Drawings

by cherrygrace



Series: Miraculous Adults as Teenagers [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Almost Platonic, Awkward friends, F/M, Fluff, Future, Gabriel Agreste is Oblivious, Gen, Light Angst, Past, Young Gabe is very shy and nervous, Young!Gabriel Agreste, Young!Nathalie Sancoeur, but Nathalie stills loves him, gabenath, love-hate friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24952960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrygrace/pseuds/cherrygrace
Summary: "I draw when I'm upset, okay?" Gabriel thought that excuse would be enough to make Nathalie leave, but she was not satisfied - that was one of the reasons why he hated liking her.or, Gabriel just draws Nathalie smiling when he's upset since teenage.
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth & Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Series: Miraculous Adults as Teenagers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805953
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	Upset Drawings

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, the idea of this came from that Kung Fu Panda meme “I eat when I’m upset” and for some reason, I adapted this for Gabriel. I love think about the miraculous adults during their past teenage years because the possibilities are endless  
> You can read this as gabenath ship or platonic. It was just a little comedy about our villains and what I think their relationship was before the series. My headcanon is that they really didn’t liked each other from the start but they stayed together mostly because of Emilie. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Gabriel wasn’t exactly an extroversion model. In fact, he didn't consider himself a model for anything, much less of his worst flaws. But he always found peace in his favorite hobby of drawing. He had a good skill for the arts and a unique eye for inventing clothes and accessories from scratch.

It had been a while since he had hidden in a lonely place to scribble in his sketchbook. The school roof was empty, clean and silent. Lately, his life had entered a strange series of events and he found himself far from his usual cocoon.

Like a light that attracted a moth, Emilie was the kind of person who was hard to avoid — and well, he  _ didn't want  _ that at all. She had gotten into her own head that she wanted to be friends with him and effectively won that position. Gabriel, on the other hand, considered this a pathetic victory. He never had friends, so there was no competition for the dancing sunshine that was the pretty Emilie Graham de Vanilly.

However, against his need for light, the reserved boy managed to spend time alone with himself. Emilie was busy with the recent activities of the Theater Club and was forced to leave him.

This relieved him and at the same time, part of him was saddened by not having the girl orbiting around him. Or it was  _ he _ orbiting around her? He never knew how to reply this. Unlike him, Emilie had many friends and knew how to talk to everyone. Even with one of the most soulless creatures Gabriel had the displeasure to meet.

Distracted by his thoughts and letting the pencil guide him, Gabriel began to scribble a shape on the blank page of the sketchbook.

How his vanilla angel became friends with an expressionless demon like Nathalie Sancoeur, he didn't know. Everything about that girl made him disgusted. She was the complete opposite of Emilie, in every way. The more he exchanged words with her, the more he became convinced that it was impossible to endure.

Nathalie had a thin face framed in a single expression. Her blue eyes were a flaccid, ordinary sky, with no clouds or light. Just blue. Above her eyes, thick square glasses added a heavy look to her lack of expression. It was as if she were in a perpetual solemn climate of funeral, but she didn’t maintain any empathy for the defunct.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stop a thought from forming in his mind: it was fun to irritate her.

The sky blue glowed with a thunder of rage. The thin lips compressed even more. Sometimes, in a small opening of her mouth, he saw her front teeth biting the tip of her tongue. Irritation was a feeling that broke the marble mask of the so-called “heartless girl”. Oh, she  _ had  _ a heart, indeed. It just beat only by the force of hate.

But it would be interesting to see her smiling. A genuine smile, to be more exact. How would she look? He thought of the thin lips curving simply, barely noticeable. Nathalie didn't seem to be the type to smile from ear to ear, like Emilie. She was discreet and minimalist.

“What are you doing?” The sudden appearance of that damn familiar indifferent tone made Gabriel jump where he was sitting.

Really, from thinking so much about the devil, he had to bear the consequences. Nathalie stared at him with a haughty expression, a counterpoint to the fact that she was shorter than her best friend.

“Nothing,” replied the boy dryly. The sketchbook was closed by reflex. After all he didn't like other people seeing his drawings.

“It doesn't look like nothing,” Nathalie said. “You draw, right?”

“It is none of your business, Sancoeur. But… y-yes... I draw,” he admitted defeated by the girl's bored look.

She sat beside him cross-legged, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Gabriel turned his head to the side, he didn't want his glasses to run into hers — as it happened more than he would have liked. It was annoying to know that they were different and so similar in many ways. They could even be friends if they didn't dislike each other's personalities so much.

The silence remained heavy between them. He could feel Nathalie's slow gaze going up and down his body, like a knife skinning an animal's skin. It was uncomfortable. That feeling only pushed his veins more to guide his hand to doodle something to relax himself. After a few minutes that seemed like hours, the boy broke the silent mood.

“OK! OK! Fine! You got me! I draw when I'm upset!” Gabriel exclaimed dropping the sketchbook on his lap. “You can tell how pathetic I am for wanting some personal space and feeling guilty about it! I’m a freaking social freak! I’m such a freak that I draw when I’m upset! That's what you're going to say, right…? N-nathalie!”

The boy's blood froze as he turned his gaze and found the Sancoeur girl flipping through his notebook —  _ how _ did she get it anyway? — quickly until she finally stopped at the most recent page. He wanted the floor to open up to swallow him or a swarm of wasps to devour him at that moment.

Occupying the center of the paper was the drawing that the blonde's traveling thoughts were guiding him to. It was an almost perfect portrait of Nathalie. He captured with jealous precision her haircut that was no more than half the neck, darkened by the force of the pencil's graphite and with the only details of the red streak on the fringe — darker than the rest in the drawing — and a very specific hair strand that it separated from the rest, between the eyes.

He had designed her glasses thinner than the original, the rectangular lenses not interfering with the shape of the eyes. These were rounded and seemed to have life despite being just a hand drawing. Below the thin nose, there was the smile he had imagined on the girl's face. That blessed smile that he wasn’t sure in seeing it live and in color.

Gabriel waited for everything. A laugh. A despised look. A sound of disgust. A crooked expression full of acidity. An indifferent throw of his sketchbook back to him. The act of crumpling the paper that he was so much devoted to doodling.  _ Anything _ . But Nathalie was an annoying surface with lack of expression.

Until, as quickly as she had taken his drawing, something appeared on her face.  _ Color _ . A faint and insignificant shade of red. Her thin fingers carefully touched the paper, as if she were afraid to destroy it with the brush of her skin.

The boy looked from the drawing to the living model, unsure of what to do or think. Biting his lower lip, he took the sketchbook back to him and remained silent.

“Damn. How can you draw so well when you're upset?” Nathalie asked with a twinge of frustration.

“Wait... did you... like it? Did you really like it?” asked Gabriel, perplexed.

“I said that you draw well.”

“Why the heck would anyone say that without having liked it?!”

“Who draws people they hate smiling?”

_ Touché _ . The blonde held the notebook to his chest, his face burning with anger and shame. He was an unlucky of the worst kind.

“I'm upset that Emilie is busy with the Theater Club too. Everything is very quiet without her around. It just reminds me of my own loneliness,” said the bluenette with her head low. “We are nothing without her, are we?”

Gabriel nodded in agreement. He didn't know if he would be able to say anything else in front of the girl, he was so disappointed with himself. Why did he start thinking about Nathalie? He should have remained in his own sadness, thinking how much he missed Emilie's company by his side. Strangely, having created that whole image of Nathalie made him smile minutes ago. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Can I keep the drawing?” she asked suddenly.

Gabriel looked at her, surprised and fascinated by the combination of expressions on the girl's face. Her forehead was slightly furrowed, her eyes docile and the insignificant shade of red was no longer so easy to ignore.

“I think it's fair,” he replied as he took the sheet out of the sketchbook and held it out to her. “Well, at least you liked it.”

“I said that you draw well. That's all,” Nathalie sullenly insisted as she took the paper.

“I get it! Jesus, Nathalie, you don’t need be so flustered.”

Those words were followed by a laugh. Watching the girl's face color intensify became a new source of contentment for Gabriel, but he wouldn't dare reveal it out loud. Only he saw this side of Nathalie.  _ Only he _ saw the small smile she gave when looking at the drawing again.

***

**_20 years later_ **

The light of the lair was horrible to draw, Gabriel knew that. But the place was empty, silent and enveloped him in the cocoon sensation he was already used to feeling. Years went by and so many things changed around him, but still, he didn't think he was worthy of anything. He just wanted to bring Emilie back.

He heard the sound of the special elevator going up to the floor and watched the figure of Nathalie walking towards him. The soft glow of the peacock's miraculous was a detail he particularly detested in her outfit. He had that same feeling when Emilie wore that jewel for the past few years.

Unfortunately, when the woman got it into her head that she was going to help him at all costs, he was not able to change her mind — even if, theoretically, he was her boss now. How the things has changed since those good days! Although, Gabriel didn't feel like he had progressed at all.

“What are you doing?” Nathalie asked.

“Nothing.”

“It doesn't look like nothing.”

“I draw when I'm upset,” Gabriel replied, setting the expensive pencil aside. Now he had enough money to buy as many pencils and pens as he wanted.

“It still pisses me off that you can draw so well even in this state.”

The Agreste man couldn't contain a smile to escape. He held the sketchbook out to the secretary, feeling nostalgic as he watched her react to his drawing. Eternalized by the graphite lines, Miss Sancoeur glimpsed the image of herself with loose hair falling over her shoulders. With a small smile, of course.

“Is there a reason why you always draw  _ me _ when you're upset?”

It was a question that she asked in silence over the years and that she never had the courage to express. She was afraid of looking too upset or too interested in his response. However, he wandered as blindly oblivious as his own akumas. Gabriel’s familiarly silly shy smile was proof of that.

“Along with Emilie, Adrien and clothes... designing you is something that gives me joy.”

Nathalie didn’t said anything. But she really liked that drawing.


End file.
